Recent Posts

Crossing the Chasm: From Technology to Valuable Enterprise

Kathryn Kranen, Former President & CEO of Jasper Design Automation

On Wednesday evening, October 8, 2014, the fall 2014 installment of the popular EDAC – Jim Hogan Emerging Companies Series, exploring concepts and best practices for emerging companies was held at Cadence Design Systems. This installment featured a conversation with Kathryn Kranenformer President and CEO of Jasper Design Automation, on “Crossing the Chasm: From Technology to Valuable Enterprise”. (Jasper was recently acquired by Cadence Design Systems.)

Jim and Kathrn exploree her philosophies and experience on building three valuable and successful companies.

Kathryn Kranen is an experienced technology CEO, based in Silicon Valley, and is one of the most influential persons in the Electronic Design Automation industry’s functional verification domain. Her specialties are pioneering new markets, monetizing software value, and building and leading excellent management teams leveraging diverse global talent.

Kathryn was president and CEO of Jasper Design Automation, a profitable and fast-growing private company delivering formal verification solutions to semiconductor and systems companies, and winner of the Red Herring Top 100 award for private companies in 2013. Prior to Jasper, she was President and CEO of Verisity Design, the pioneer of constrained random simulation. Before that, she was vice president of NA sales for Quickturn Systems, originator of hardware emulation systems (public on Nasdaq at the time). Kathryn worked as an applications engineer at Daisy Systems and started her career as a designer of electronic systems and ASICs at Rockwell International. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, and currently serves on the TAMU Advisory Council to the Dean of Engineering. Kathryn served on the EDA Consortium board of directors for 13 years and was its chairman from 2012-2014. She is currently a non-executive director of Critical Blue, and serves on the board of trustees of the World Affairs Council of Northern California.

In 2013, Kathryn received the EE Times/EDN ACE Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the electronics industry. She was named one of the Top 10 Women in Microelectronics by EE Times in 2011. She was the 2005 recipient of the Marie Pistilli Women in Electronic Design Automation award. She holds multiple US patents in the formal verification domain.